Beirut-based designer Karen Chekerdjian creates “industrial handicrafts,” objects that marry contemporary pattern and design with traditional workmanship. The Lebanese-Armenian designer got her masters from the Domus Academy in Milan, where she studied under Massimo Morozzi, a member of Italy’s 1960s Archizoom group. She returned to Beirut to open her own studio in 2001; a store followed in 2010. When she couldn’t find factories like those she had worked with in Italy, Chekerdjian shifted her focus to handmade works made in collaboration with local artisans—carvers, brassmakers, embroiderers, and glassblowers. Along with furniture and objects, she has had several high-profile interior design commissions, including the Beirut flagship of Lebanese couturier Maison Rabih Kayrouz.